Audrey Howatson

I am  a very easy going, fun loving person. I try to bring excitement and the “fun factor” to fitness.  I have been teaching and involved professionally in fitness since 2008.  I have taught many styles over the years including aerobics, indoor cycling, body ball classes, weight lifting, yoga, Pilates, boot camp, pre and post natal fitness, yoga and interval training.  I   feel that the fitness industry challenges me and empowers me to teach others health and fitness, to encourage, and to create fitness that is fun! I usually share with my clients that I have at times struggled with my weight at different times with my life and , even now after having a baby.  Fitness has become very important to my lifestyle and I started teaching in order to share my experiences with other people.   After moving to Japan in 1999 I decided it was time to get rid of my Freshman 30 forever.  So I started reading books, joined a fitness club, started learning Japanese and running marathons to explore this new country I was living in.I lost the weight I gained at university and vowed that I would never gain it again.   When leaving Japan I decided to bike across the country of Japan and I also got offered a job to be  a coordinator to train and take 17 people across Cambodia by bike.  This is what got me started in Indoor Cycling.  This was the first time that I got to really walk the walk, instead of just talking the talk.  It was an incredible adventure! When I moved back after almost a decade of extensive traveling, I decided I wanted to have fitness professionally in my life.  So I became a personal trainer, a group fitness instructor and started teaching indoor cycling classes.  As time progressed and I learned more about fitness I learned the importance of  Pilates and so I got certified in that and incorporating it into my classes and then Yoga. I tried my first yoga class in 1994 and was instantly hooked. I thought yoga would be a great way to increase flexibility but I  soon discovered it would be so much more. Yoga taught me how to truly relax and find balance within myself. Yoga is not just a form of exercise, but a way of life. Yoga has been so beneficial in my life that I wanted to share it with others. I entered a teacher-training program in December 2010 and I have been teaching ever since.  I hope to expand the students’ knowledge not just through yoga, Pilates, group fitness classes, cycling or personal training but rather fitness as a whole.   I have been teaching fitness for 5 years and feel like I am a great teacher and a great example for anyone working towards fitness goals.  I feel that the fitness industry challanges me and empowers me to teach others health and fitness and to create fitness that is fun.  My own fitness journey of knowledge keeps on expanding and while it has made me a teacher, I have also become a continual student which keeps me very humble and keeps me on my toes.   I hope to continue my knowledge to pass the information on to my daughter and to all the fitness participants I get the privilege of meeting.